Local attorneys comment on changes made by new DA Mark D'Antonio

LAS CRUCES — A month and a half has passed since Mark D'Antonio took the oath of office, ushering in wholesale changes to the local District Attorney's Office not seen in 17 years.

It's early, but attorneys said that shift has brought a wave of measured optimism to many in the local legal community — some of them sounding relieved in talking about the switch, while offering pointed criticisms of previous district attorneys.

Perhaps, as some attorneys suggested, the explanation for this mood swing is as simple as D'Antonio and his staff bringing fresh faces to the labyrinth of 3rd Judicial District Attorney offices inside the Doña Ana County Government Center.

Former district attorney Amy Orlando spent nearly two decades practicing law for the state, most of that under longtime DA, Gov. Susana Martinez. Las Cruces attorney Jess Lilley, a friend of Orlando, said she represented "an extension" of Martinez's regime.

"You're always going to have some problems," Lilley said.

Other local attorneys, however, said the reasons for their optimism are more complex.

Shortly after the November election, D'Antonio told the Sun-News he ran for district attorney because he was "shocked" at the previous administrations' attitude toward the defense bar. D'Antonio, a former defense attorney and federal prosecutor, labeled plea deals offered then as "draconian."

Since then, multiple attorneys echoed D'Antonio's sentiment.

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"My sense is from talking to others in the group that they are encouraged by the improved tone and improved communication among the principles in the system," said Michael Stout, president of the Doña Ana County Defense Lawyers Association. "That includes communication between prosecutors and the defense bar, and law enforcement and judges."

Stout noted that "every relationship is different" and that, by its adversarial nature, America's legal system produces plenty of disputes.

But, Stout said, "you don't have to be disagreeable to disagree."

Because D'Antonio is relatively new and still filling his staff, Stout said he's unsure about how much the DA's office will shift, especially from a policy standpoint. Still, Stout offered measured praise.

Former state prosecutor Matt Madrid said he briefly saw the combative nature of previous DA administrations from the inside, resigning after nine months under Martinez. He said that attitude was part of wider problems.

Madrid said he has worked around the state and that, before D'Antonio, the 3rd Judicial District Attorney's office was "notorious" for being more difficult to deal with than surrounding jurisdictions. He added that was a "source of pride for previous DAs."

Wrote Madrid in an email to the Sun-News: "That was an attitude that fostered inflexibility and frankly a 'damn the evidence, full speed ahead' culture. ... (It) was responsible for more jury trials and many, many jury acquittals on cases that probably wouldn't be filed in other jurisdictions."

Several attorneys interviewed for this story referred to systematic "overcharging" that they said happened under Martinez and Orlando.

Madrid described "gatekeeping" as a critical function of the DA's office. For several years, he said, keeping unsupported cases out of court "wasn't even a secondary consideration."

Another attorney said that practice led to former prosecutors being spread too thin, sapping their effectiveness.

For Madrid, it's about fairness.

"That's something that was lost here a long time ago, that all the people of this county deserve fair treatment, including those accused of a crime," he wrote.

Some attorneys suggested that, under D'Antonio, more attorneys might take state criminal cases — they know fed up attorneys who stopped taking such cases, that are reconsidering their stance.

In addressing philosophies about plea deals and filing charges, Stout said being "inflexible" results in too many people unjustly in jail.

Orlando, now working with the state's Children, Youth and Families Department, refuted claims about her office's tone and communication. Orlando defended the fairness of the plea deals she and her staff offered in court.

In an email to the Sun-News, Orlando wrote that the criticisms lobbed by some attorneys are shots at her plea deals.

"The 'tone' and 'philosophy' that you are hearing about is really an expectation that felony cases will be regularly pled to misdemeanors, that 'slap on the wrist' type sentencing agreements will be the normal routine, and that tough cases — the kind that involve our most vulnerable victims: infants and children — will be declined. That is the 'tone' and 'philosophy' that fulfills any criminal defense attorney's dream."

That's not the point, defense attorneys said.

"It's not just about being better for defense attorneys. We're not thinking about what we're going to get," Lilley said. "The question is, can Mark (D'Antonio) come in and make the system work better for everybody."

James Staley may be reached at 575-541-5476. Follow him on Twitter @auguststaley